Michael's Movie Grade: B-
An effective thriller helped by good action scenes and great performances.
This movie may not offer us anything new or different but it does a darn good job given audiences just what they would want from a film like this. Director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye (1995), The Legend of Zorro (2005), Casino Royale (2006), Green Lantern (2011)) certainly knows his way around an action scene as he shows to great effect here. The action scenes are excellent. They are full of all the energy violence and suspense that one could possibly want. They are perfectly choreographed and paced as well. The cast is also excellent here. Maggie Q. is very impressive and more than holds her own with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton. Her and Keaton have great chemistry and the scenes they share are in many ways the highlight of this movie. They play killers who are both out to kill each other but find a strong sexual attraction between them. The mixture of violence and flirting is handled extremely well. Samuel L. Jackson has a smaller role than one might except (though still not a tiny role of course) but being himself he makes the best of every second he is on screen.
The storyline is pretty slight, which is fine as not every storyline needs to be something huge. However because of this when the film needs to turn serious, it rings a little hollow. Certain scenes do not have the emotional impact they should. Also whenever the film tries to examine the moral implications of the characters lives, it is less than effective. Adding to this is that the flashbacks to our main character as a little girl can feel like padding.
This is by no means anything groundbreaking but it still provides its audience with what they want.
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